


The Duel

by 80sGayTrashGoblin



Series: BAltDAU [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender, Voltron: Lion Force (1984)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, It Gets Worse, M/M, Songfic, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80sGayTrashGoblin/pseuds/80sGayTrashGoblin
Summary: A mirror of a moment two and half centuries earlier, a duel reveals the mind of the elusive General Akira.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: BAltDAU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794631
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	The Duel

**Author's Note:**

> This is another installation of BAltDAU, and comes after "Aftermath." I'm sorry, in advance.
> 
> And if you guys ask for it, I might write a part two.
> 
> And the song in the last half is "The World Was Wide Enough" from Hamilton.

They were negotiating another treaty, this time with Lord Silphaen of Zuihiri. What Shiro knows about the Zuihiri people is that they are very proud and love honor. Surprisingly, Akira and Onyx were with them, and he talked with Allura as they tried to convince the lord to ally with the Coalition.

Shiro let his mind wander, back to a few weeks ago, when he found Akira about to jump off the top of the castle. Since then, Akira had been leaving to do 'recon missions' (every time he left, the reports of the Phantom decimating another galra base came in, and Shiro was onto him), and he seemed to be avoiding Shiro specifically. He wasn't being rude or anything like that, he just made excuses. A lot of excuses.

Shiro refocused on the conversation, chiding himself for letting his mind wander off for so long. "And General Akira, why do you stoop to such dishonorable tactics? Surprise attacks, sabotages, the dark energy around your person." Lord Silphaen narrowed his eyes at Akira.

"With all do respect, your majesty." Akira's back was straight, his posture reminiscent of a military general. It struck Shiro suddenly that that's how Akira always carried himself, and he just never noticed till now. "The Coalition is outnumbered and outmatched. The only way we would have survived, let alone gotten this far, is to out-strategize the galra."

"You would strip them of their honor?"

"Again, with all due respect, honor means nothing when you're dead." At the Lord's shocked expression, as well as the shocked expressions of everyone in the room, the paladins included, Akira simply continued. "We are fighting an enemy with no honor, who have destroyed planets. If we approached them with honor, we would be wiped out."

"So you would have us shed our honor?" Lord Silphaen hissed. "You are arrogant if you thing we would."

"You would need to do no such thing," he replied calmly, unreadable as he talked. "All we need are more supplies and an open trade route."

"Harboring the dishonorable is dishonorable."

Akira blinked, then turned around. "The galra don't care about your honor. If you aren't aligned with them, they will raze your planet to the ground."

There was a tense silence, before Allura piped up, "Is there any way we can come to an agreement?"

Some advisor whispered into the Lord's ear, and he nodded. "A duel."

Akira's head turned slightly as he asked, "What does a duel entail?"

The advisor spoke up this time. "Both parties choose one person to duel, and a second person to accompany them. Each person has a standard pistol, cleaned and inspected by the second, while a doctor is on scene. In a circle drawn into the ground, the two people stand, facing each other and looking them in the eyes before turning around. On the count of ten, they then turn around and shoot."

"Is this the only way?" Allura asked, her eyes wide as she looked around at the paladins-

"I'll choose myself to represent our party," Akira said, without hesitation. He then nodded to Shiro, who had been silently watching the whole time. "Paladin Shiro will be my second."

Shiro, despite not liking any second of this, nodded back.

"I choose Sir Eldins to represent our party," the Lord said. A fairly slim Zuihuri stepped forward, wearing a large coat and a monocle.

"I choose Sir Rah'ae as my second," the knight said, and a large burly Zuihuri stepped next to him. They seemed to be good friends, from the way they stood and nodded at each other, at least from what Shiro could gather.

"We are not having a duel in my throne room." Lord Silphaen stood up, and banged his staff on the floor. "Come, let us go to the court yard."

As they walked through the palace, Shiro fell into step with Akira. "What the fuck were you thinking?" He hissed, trying to keep his voice quiet.

Akira just stared ahead as he walked, his lion matching him step for step. "I have a plan, Shiro. Trust me."

"Is this really necessary?"

"We need the supplies and the trade route."

"What if something happens to you?"

"Precautions are in place if something does happen to me."

"How can you speak like you might not die?"

"Why do you act as if this is different from any other day?"

Shiro grew quiet at that. He said any other day. Not any other battle. Any other day.

They stepped into the courtyard, a circle already drawn into the dirt. Akira wordlessly handed him a pistol, and he looked it over, making sure it worked, before handing it back with a nod. Akira's face was unreadable, but Shiro thought he could see resignation and hope.

It was then that Shiro noticed. Akira wasn't wearing his gloves, which he always wore, and had his fiance's ring on his finger.

Shiro's heart dropped, but before he could say anything, Akira had stepped away, into the circle. He just shook his head, moving to stand next to Allura and pretending to ignore her's and the other paladins' concerned looks.

The two combatants looked at each other, then turned around. The doctor had turned around, and the advisor started to count down. Akira closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky, and Shiro couldn't say for the life of him what was going through his head.

**BANG!**

Eldins' gun was pointed straight at Akira's chest, and Akira's gun was pointed at the sky. There was a growing patch of red on Akira's chest, and his face was... Peaceful.

Time seemed to stand still, and the only thing that could be heard was the dripping of Akira's blood onto the dirt.

Eventually, he fell backwards, and Shiro managed to catch him. The doctor was next to him too, already pulling off the bloody rags in order to treat it. As doctors from the Atlas also arrived, Shiro turned back to the conversation happening behind him.

"Eldins! How could you?!" Lord Silphaen turned back to Allura and the paladins. "I'm so sorry for my representative's dishonorable actions. We will give our supplies and our trade route."

It dawned on Shiro, at that moment. That was Akira's plan all along. To die a martyr and secure the war-changing supplies.

But this was Akira. He was the one who single-handedly took the rebellion and turned it into the Voltron Coalition. He was the one who single-handedly regained about a third of the galaxy from galra grip. He was the one who managed to create something bigger than himself.

History has its eyes on him, and it wouldn't let Akira go that easily.

Keith stood in front of the other Zuihuri, his stance wide and the gun pointed down. It was a Standard Issue Garrison laser bolter, and served him well when he was a teenager. How long ago was that? Keith couldn't remember anymore.

_"I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory."_

The gold of the ring on his finger burned him. All he could think about was those he lost: Merla, Twyla, Coran, Iris, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Lance. They were going to get married, retire when the galaxy was peaceful, and get a farm in the countryside, adopting goats and cats and war orphans.

He's had many, many, many close calls with death over the years. But most times he made it out alive. Now, death had taken his family, his children. Sure, his children in this dimension were gone, but with every passing day without a signal from them he loses a little hope.

_"Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev'ral feet ahead of me?"_

Keith's life took many twists and turns over the years. He did so much with his life: rebuilt a kingdom, changed the Garrison, created a military, raised children. But he was also put through so much: his father's abuse, the Garrison constantly pushing him down, being torn from his family, being tortured by the galra, having poisonous quintessence planted into his body. He was just so tired. And if death was what it would take to go back and see his family one last time, so be it.

_"I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?"_

Keith would be lying if the thought didn't cross his mind of shooting back. He could shoot back, but he's had enough blood on his hands, taken enough lives, and Eldins didn't deserve to lose his lives for Keith's cause.

_"There is no beat, no melody,_  
_"Burr, my first friend, my enemy,_  
_"Maybe the last face I ever see."_

The funny thing was that if Keith looked hard enough, the knight's face turned into Lance's face. And wouldn't that be ironic, to die at the hands of someone who looked like the man he lived for. The man who he promised to spend the rest of his life with. The man who died before Keith could come back.

_"If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me?"_  
_"What if this bullet is my legacy?"_

These supplies would change the course of the war. There was no way they could move forward without them. Keith would have to kill an innocent man for them or kill himself for them. He could only hope that the people who he was leaving his legacy with were smart enough to put his plans and safeguards to good use.

_"Legacy, what is a legacy?_  
_"It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see."_

Keith would never see his children grow into brilliant young men and women. Keith would never see the prosperity of Arus fully come to light. Keith would never see the war won. And if Keith was quite frank, he was alright with that. He'd done everything he could with his time in this universe, and he's earned his rest in the afterlife.

_"I'm running out of time, I'm running, and my time's up."_

Keith's flirted with death numerous times. Multiple times dark places in his mind tried to drag him to death. Multiple times he's nearly drunk himself to death. Multiple times he's nearly died from his caffeine abuse. Death had decided to finally claim his soul.

_"Wise up, eyes up,_  
_I catch a glimpse of the other side."_

As Keith looked to the sky, he could swear he could see his friends. Pidge, with his impish grin, balancing on Hunk's shoulder. Hunk's smile was confident, unlike Allura's soft one.

_"Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on the other side."_

Sven stood next to them, a face he hasn't seen since the very beginning. He held the blue lion's key in his hand, and his smile's understanding.

_"My son is on the other side,_  
_"He's with my mother on the other side."_

Iris, the sweet girl, her wings wrapped around her in a pseudo hug. Keith Jr, violet eyes resembling Lance's when Lance was a teenager, holding Kylie, whose smile was wide and bright. Sol's eyes were nervous but caring, and Luna was quiet but bright just like her sister.

_"Washington is watching from the other side,_  
_"Teach me how to say goodbye."_

Commander Hawkins stood next to Hunk, his hand on Pidge's shoulder. His eyes were wise, his smile kind, as they reminded Keith of the opportunity he gave him before he died.

_"Rise up, rise up, rise up, Eliza!"_

And Lance. Lance, who was cheeky and sarcastic and flirty all at the same time. Lance, who honestly kicked his smoking habit for Keith in exchange for Keith to stop drinking caffeine. Lance, who was always there for him. Lance, who Keith gave his heart to. Lance, who is holding an arm out to him.

Keith turned to face his death, gun pointed to the sky. Keith heard more than felt the laser pierce his chest. Keith heard more than felt him collapse into someone's arms. As he blacked out, he could vaguely hear Lance's voice in his ear.

_"My love, take your time."_  
_"I'll see you on the other side."_


End file.
